a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system method and computer program product used in creating a series of virtual events within a virtual world to be presented as real-time content for bettors to wager on. More particularly, a virtual event may be akin to a real event but may be completely computer generated within a computer-generated world based on statistical measures either real world or created. The system will include a virtual world engine, a virtual event engine, a virtual broadcast engine, a virtual world application programming interface (API) and an integrated betting system.
b) Description of the Related Art
In the video game market involving Football, Soccer, Basketball, Horse Racing, etc., simulation engines are used to allow individuals to play a sport virtually with examples such as with Madden Football, Tiger Woods Golf, G4 Jockey, or Winning Post. Typically this simulation involves real teams and real players emulated virtually. Individuals participate in the game by using interactive joysticks, controls, etc., therefore it is interactive.
The fantasy (or Rotisserie) games typically involve customers/participants who construct unique sports teams based on drafting players from a variety of teams. The clients compete with virtual teams based on a point system that directly determines how the actual players perform in real world games. In some cases, these teams compete in a simulation to determine an outcome of an event not related to any real world event, but solely determined by a simulator.
In the gaming (Casino, Horse Betting, Sports Betting, etc.) virtual events are used for gambling either via a slot machine (kiosk or terminal wagering), or a monitor (simulcast TV screens at track or a betting shop). Individuals bet on virtual events by placing money directly into a slot machine, or like they would bet at a real life horse race where an individual walks up to a window and places a bet with a person or on a betting terminal.
Also, in the gaming market, a random number generator will determine the outcome of a race or fight (or event subcomponent such as round of a fight, a quarter of a race, a period of a game). For example in a horse race, a random number generator will determine the outcome based on either randomly selecting equally weighted horses (all have equal chance of winning) or randomly selecting probability weighted horses (where they have a probabilistic chance of winning).
In the interactive gaming market and in the simulation system found within, the combination of either play-by-play, punch-by-punch, or step-by-step complex algorithms, optimization models, decision trees, and probabilistic dice rolls are all utilized to determine how one competitor (or team) will behave and then independently how the different competitors or teams will respond. These events occur in an “environment” that has goals (scoring a touchdown, knocking out an opponent, winning a race), that has rules (where a competitor can hit, how much weight a horse must carry, etc.), constraints (the environmental constraints of a track, the physical constraints of not being able to run “through” other competitors), and the effects of other competitors (another player tackling you or forcing a fumble, another horse being in front of you and impeding your progress, being hit or bumped during a fight, game, or race, etc.). The outcome of a simulation system depends on the actual completion of the interactive event by the competitors, and the outcome is determined once one or more competitors have successfully completed the event.
Some simulations rely have utilized a random number generator where each competitor in a competition has a statistically pre-determined or specified chance of winning. Other simulations have utilized a multi-player interactive system in which some aspects of the artificial world develop over time and the outcome is influenced by instructions received from a plurality of players.
Throughout the real world, individuals may bet on games of chance or number selection games such as keno, bingo or other “lottery” type games, or they may bet on the outcome of competitions such as sporting or racing events. Historically these activities had to be done in person. The widespread access to the Internet and other electronic distribution methods has provided individuals with the access not only to wager remotely on a competition, but also to watch the event on which they wagered in real time. Individuals engage in the activity of placing wagers (e.g. bets) on the outcome of an event (sporting event, political event, etc.) by placing: a) pari-mutuel wager, b) a fixed odds wager, or c) an exchange wager utilizing their respective betting systems. Individuals utilize their knowledge of the sport and the individual entrants; analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the competitors as well as the conditions of the venue in order to select a wager.
Traditional fixed odds virtual sports systems, betting exchanges or other pari-mutuel virtual sports systems are based upon a singular random number generator. Each competitor has a statistically pre-determined or specified chance of winning and these events are believed to be inherently limited and inflexible in their application over a broad network of bettors. An event determined by a single randomly generated number do not allow for a competition in which an individual may impart skill in their knowledge or analysis in selecting a wager and they do not allow an individual to have an advantage over other bettors or a book maker.
Traditional racing events that are wagered on using pari-mutuel wagering systems have race histories associated with each competitor that are available to the bettor to help them handicap the race and improve their likelihood of winning money over time. This is why pari-mutuel wagering on horses has been treated as a skill wager. However, other virtual events (because they are determined by a random number generator) usually do not have a known history of each competitor's past race performance and additionally, who were the other competitors in past events to help assess one horses performance relative to another.
The present invention differs from US Patent Publication No. 2005/0044575 A1 (hereafter the “575” patent) by providing a fully automated, non-interactive system. Whereas the 575 patent uses real-world player inputs to influence the outcomes of virtual world events, and emphasizes the massively multiplayer interactive aspect of gaming, the present invention removes real-world player input altogether and evolves the world and events using computer algorithms. The present invention thus fully develops automated evolution of virtual world inhabitants using computer algorithms, and their performance and behaviors are entirely computer controlled. This allows the present invention to be used in un-biased pari-mutuel wagering and fixed odds wagering, and makes it acceptable to gaming authority approval and regional regulatory requirements. Furthermore the present invention does not necessarily require a television network in order to deliver visual content, and uses a novel approach to delivering high definition video to remote locations. Finally the present invention presents extra facilities in order to create fixed odds for these virtual events, and present information for pari-mutuel wagering on these events to real-world players.